Lighting Designer

The power of art triumphs over historical neglect and censorship in two 20th-century gems. First up is a rare staging of Highway 1, USA by William Grant Still, a trailblazing Jim Crow-era composer hailed as “the Dean of African-American Composers.” Norman Garrett and Nicole Heaston star as a hardworking couple determined to build a better life, who discover that their years of sacrifices have been misguided. Chaz'men Williams-Ali portrays the beneficiary of their support, who squanders the opportunities granted to him. This new production is staged by visionary director Kaneza Schaal, who helmed the stunning 2022 production of Omar.

Next, Rodrick Dixon performs the title role opposite audience favorites Erica Petrocelli and Kristinn Sigmundsson in The Dwarf, a heartbreaking tale of one-sided love in an opulent Spanish court. Last presented here in 2008 to critical acclaim, Oscar Wilde’s fable is brought to life through a lush and romantic score by Alexander Zemlinsky, whose career was cut short by the rise of the Nazi regime.

EPSG:4326

Highway 1, USA / The Dwarf

Los Angeles Music Center

As we continue to rebuild out of the pandemic, Public Works enters its second decade by revisiting the play that launched the program, William Shakespeare’s THE TEMPEST. In The Public’s decade-long tradition of bringing together a diverse ensemble of both professional and community members from across New York, this Public Works production examines what it means to be isolated and how we find our way back to one another. With music and lyrics by Benjamin Velez and directed by Obie Award winner and Director of Public Works Laurie Woolery, this ambitious work of participatory theater explores the grief of being cut off from community, the desire for retribution, and the healing power of love.

The Tempest

The Delacorte Theater

It’s 2008 and a father-daughter duo are heading to Phnom Penh; she to prosecute a notorious Cambodian war criminal, he 30 years after escaping then-Communist rule. In a psychedelic theatrical extravaganza set to some of the country’s most popular rock music, including from Dengue Fever, Cambodian Rock Band shines a light on the country’s vibrant ’70s rock scene and how an entire generation of musicians was purged by the Khmer Rouge, as it brings long-buried family secrets back to life.

Cambodian Rock Band

Mead Center for American Theater

Tennessee Williams’ Orpheus Descending tells the story of the passion of two outcasts—Lady Torrance, a storekeeper’s wife and daughter of a murdered Sicilian bootlegger and Val, a wandering guitar player—and their attempt to escape from a Southern Hell.

Set in a small town dry-goods store in the Deep South, Orpheus Descending is a toxic brew of racist violence, bigotry, misogyny, sexual passion and longing for liberation.

Lighting Designer

David Weiner

Events

Past events

Feb 24 - Mar 17, 2024

Highway 1, USA / The Dwarf · LA Opera

Aug 27 - Sep 3, 2023

The Tempest · Public Theater

About

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